Jamaica's Olympic champion Usain Bolt reacts after winning the men's 100m during the IAAF Golden League meeting at the Stade de France. Photograph: Lionel Cironneau/AP

Usain Bolt wowed the Stade de France last night, running 9.79 seconds – his season's best – in the pouring rain to set a 100 metres meet record in Paris. The Jamaican, who said his performance felt as if he was "flying", once again blew the field – and the crowd – away, proving that he is in devastating form ahead of next month's World Championships.

"I was happy I ran a good time and got through injury-free," said the 22-year-old. "The weather was not a problem for me but in these conditions the time is great." Bolt is fast getting used to running in the wind and rain – there was the 150m street sprint in Manchester in May, followed by a 10sec 100m performance in appalling conditions in Toronto last month, and a 200m time of 19.59sec in Ostrava.

Despite such impressive adaptability the triple Olympic gold medallist knows there is work to do yet – his season's best is 0.02sec behind Tyson Gay's fastest run this year of 9.77sec, and the Jamaican must improve his start – the second slowest in the field last night – if he is to beat his American rival in Berlin.

"My reaction time is poor," said Bolt. "This is something I have to work on in the next few weeks before Berlin. But it's life, things don't always happen the way you want. I had a good feeling on the track, it was like flying."

Bolt's start is the final piece of the jigsaw. The towering Jamaican struggles to make a smooth exit out of his blocks, rising abruptly instead of firing out at a more speed-efficient gradient, forcing him to make up the time in the final 40m of the race. If he can improve this one flaw fans could be in for yet another record-breaking treat when Bolt lines up for the 100m in Berlin.

Bolt's electric form is evidently raising everyone else's game. Antigua's Daniel Bailey was close behind the Jamaican, with Bolt's training partner Yohan Blake finishing third, both running sub-10 times. Britain's Simeon Williamson finished sixth, in 10.14, a decent enough time for the 23-year-old who by his own admission finds it hard to hit top speed in a one-off race.

Sanya Richards won the women's 400m in sparkling form, surpassing Marita Koch's record, running under 50 seconds for the 37th time in her career. Richards stormed away from the rest of the field, oozing confidence as she hit the home straight to win in 49.34sec. The American is so close to winning her first major global title she can almost touch it.

The British Olympic silver medallist Phillips Idowu won the triple jump with his fourth effort, 17.17m, surpassing Jadel Gregorio's 17.12, in a competition affected by heavy rain. Marilyn Okoro ran a season's best of 1min 59.56sec in the 800m, finishing sixth overall, while the British 800m champion, Michael Rimmer, ran 1min 46.73sec to finish fourth in his race.

Including Richards, four athletes remain in contention to win the $1m jackpot Golden League prize. Yelena Isinbayeva, Kenenisa Bekele and Kerron Stewart all winning their respective events.